


Don't Step Without Me

by VisionaryGalaxy



Series: The Symphony of Our Catastrophe [14]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Boys In Love, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Fluff, Hurt Charles, Light Angst, M/M, Protective Erik Lehnsherr, Self-Indulgent, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 13:06:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19400914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisionaryGalaxy/pseuds/VisionaryGalaxy
Summary: Indulgent piece based off of the deleted scene in XMFC where Moira and Charles are supposed to be training Sean to control his voice and he ends up knocking them all down. Erik hears it and comes running.





	Don't Step Without Me

Erik was in the library when he heard it.

He was flipping through a dusty ornate copy of The Iliad and trying to make sense of the verses because Charles and Hank had been having a passionate discussion with grandiose metaphors and grinning recitations, leaving him decidedly annoyed.

The library, he’d discovered, was a wonderful place to escape from the chaos that was the children. Most of the time they were quiet or training, but they could also be loud and excitable leaving him overwhelmed by their sheer energy. Erik wasn’t used to these kinds of things and he was grateful when Charles had smiled sympathetically and showed him this little haven.

The kids weren’t much for reading. Charles on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to lounge on the scattered furniture or spend hours rearranging the thousands of titles lining the walls. Sometimes he did so in silence, other times he’d quietly interrupt Erik with questions about what he was reading and remarkably, he was never bothered.

On this particular day, most of the children were preoccupied with some task or another, Erik didn’t pretend to know everything they did. He did know, however, that Charles and Sean were supposed to be working on his control.

Which was of course, the source of the sound that shattered the calm serenity of the library. The first time that familiar echoing scream came, Erik simply glanced up out of habit, distantly noting that it sounded no different.

He turned back to his book only for another minute or so to pass and the world tilted drunkenly as his ears began to ring with the shrillness of the scream that seemed to fill up the air and make his lungs contract harshly.

Erik dropped the book, sitting up so quickly that he nearly tumbled right off the couch. His hands were on his ears in an instant and when he realized some of the windows were open, all it took was a frantic jerk of his mind to snap it closed.

His head was swimming with it, but it passed almost as quickly as it had begun. Erik knew the sound hadn’t been directed toward the house, Charles was very careful about that, except that whatever Sean had just done, clearly more powerful then what he’d done so far.

Erik took a stabilizing breath when a voice drifted gently into his mind, making him freeze.

_I’m sorry about that. Here._

The headache that had been brewing behind his eyes disappeared but that wasn’t what Erik focused on. No, Charles’s voice had sounded…ill, not ok, _shaky_.

Charles had been standing next to Sean.

Erik was on his feet and all but sprinting for the backdoor, his stomach twisting at the prospect of what he might find. He flung open the door and strode into the backyard, eyes settling instantly on where three figures laid in the grass.

Sean was on his back, possibly passed out, Moira was on her hands and knees heaving, while Charles…Charles was laying on his side, one hand pressed to his head and otherwise unmoving. Erik’s heart stopped for a moment even as he picked up the pace into a run.

“Charles?!” he fell to his knees by his side, hands already gripping his arms and trying to turn him onto his back.

For one horrible minute there was no response. Only Charles with his eyes closed, pale faced, and unmoving. Charles had to be ok because he couldn’t do this without him, and he was supposed to be invincible and…

Then eyelids opened and bright blue eyes met his and Erik could have wept with relief at the sight. Erik pulled him into a sitting position making Charles grimace and pulled the headset off his ears, checking for blood, “are you alright?” he demanded.

Charles still looked dazed and of course the first thing out of his mouth was, “is Sean and Moira ok?”

Erik honestly didn’t care. Sean deserved whatever he’d done for incapacitating Charles of all people and Moira…well he had his reasons. Still the concern in those shining blue eyes was not to be ignored, so he spared a glance at them.

Sean was laying there, eyes closed but he was smiling. Moira wasn’t heaving anymore. Good enough.

“Fine, they’re fine. What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped.

Charles winced, maybe from his caustic tone, probably because he was mentally screaming at him, “Erik, my friend, please calm down. You really aren’t helping my head.”

It was pathetic that those words were all it took for Erik to subside, instead pulling him into a tight hug. Why was loving a person so damned complicated? Why couldn’t they just take care of themselves so he wouldn’t have to worry? He didn’t have time to be trailing after Charles making sure he didn’t get himself killed in his determination to help people.

“That’s a bit harsh,” Charles murmured into his shoulder.

“I found you three laying in the grass because Sean made you all pass out just from his screaming,” he deadpanned.

“Ah,” Charles nodded. “I’ll be better prepared next time.”

It took all of Erik’s considerable self-control not to snap that there wouldn’t be a next time. Sean still needed to train, but this was obviously not working.

“Ugh,” Moira had finally maneuvered into a sitting position, rubbing at her stomach. “Charles how long is this suppose to last?”

“Oh,” Charles looked at her intently and quite suddenly her entire body relaxed, and a grin spread over her lips.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Charles sat up and Erik reluctantly let him go. “Sean? Are you alright?”

“I’m great!” his head popped up off the grass, eyes wide with excitement. “That was really cool. Can I try again?”

“ _NO!”_

That came from all three of them, though Charles was the only one smiling indulgently while he did it. Erik shook his head and tugged the smaller man up until he was standing, intent on dragging him to the bedroom and forcing him to relax for the next fifty minutes until he was sure there was no permanent damage.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Charles murmured, though he sounded amused.

“I’ll stop being dramatic when you stop putting yourself in danger.”

“Please I hardly ever-”

“The night we met.”

“You can’t use that against me, I saved your life.”

The reminder simultaneously warmed his heart and made his blood freeze in his veins. There was no good answer to that except to kiss the man who believed he’d been worth saving.


End file.
